JFK BALKS AT SUGGESTION OF 'HEART TO HEART' TALK WITH STROM THURMOND
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On February 14, 1962, President John F. Kennedy held a news conference at the State Department Auditorium here in the Nation's Capital.
The President was asked...
"This being Valentine's Day, sir, do you think it might be a good idea if you would call Senator Strom Thurmond* of South Carolina down to the White House for a heart-to-heart talk about the whole disagreement over the censorship of the military speeches and what he calls your defeatist foreign policy?"
President Kennedy answered...
"Well, I think that meeting should be probably prepared at a lower level..."
JFK's response was followed by laughter from the press corps.
JFK+50 NOTE
According to World Biography U.S. Presidents, JFK "demonstrated a...cosmopolitan and sophisticated view of the world...&...had a feel for diplomacy."
Our Valentine's Day post, originally published Feb 14 2011, is the #1 most popular on this JFK+50 blog.
*James Strom Thurmond, Sr. (1902-2003) was born in Edgefield, SC. He graduated from Clemson University in 1923 & was admitted to the bar in 1930. ST served in the US Army during WWII & was governor of SC from 1947-1951. JST ran for POTUS in 1948 as a "Dixiecrat" on a states' right platform supporting racial segregation.
JST was a US Senator from 1956 to 2003. He represented SC as a Democrat until 1964 when he became a Republican & worked for Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign.
SOURCES
"John F. Kennedy-Foreign Affairs," World Biography U.S. Presidents, www.presidentialprofiles.com/
"The President's News Conference of February 14, 1962," Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States, January 1 to December 31, 1962, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, 1963.
